Mixed Signals

A few years ago, when we lived in New York, we got very comfortable with driving in New Jersey, and making many left turns via a right turn jug handle. This isn't a very difficult driving concept once you've done it a few times, and everyone pretty much gets the hang of it. But when I saw that an intersection that I drive through fairly frequently was slated for the (no joke) "first ever in Texas left turn jug handle," I started to panic. Jug handles are okay if everyone knows what they are doing, and what to expect. To put a solitary one in on a busy intersection where no one is likely to have had experience with this type of traffic pattern seems like a bad decision to me. Even worse, this intersection is just south of one of the 10 most dangerous intersections in America (I think it's #6). I think the traffic planners here are insane. I've thought that from the moment we moved here, and had to start figuring out how to navigate this: That is the Dallas North Tollway. It runs north AND south. Seems pretty simple, but try explaining to someone that they should take the north tollway south. I used to get lost a lot. Now I have GPS - and a map.

Of course, we also had to get used to the unusual orientation of the traffic lights. See that left turn signal with 5 lights? One red, one yellow arrow, one green arrow, one solid yellow, and one solid green. Some signals around here add even one more, with a double red. No wonder I'm always lost, I'm too busy trying to figure out if I can turn left or not. If this weren't enough to keep me inside, we are also very close to the Interstate 35 twins: I-35E and I-35W, which wouldn't be confusing at all, except that they both run north/south.

Some days, I decide it's easier to just walk.